Examine George, Martha and Nick's responses to the totalitarian vision of the future and what those responses reveal about their characters and relationships. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Re-read from p45 ‘Martha: What’s all this business about chromosomes?’ to p47 ‘Martha: Isn’t that nice?’ Examine George, Martha and Nick’s responses to the totalitarian vision of the future and what those responses reveal about their characters and relationships.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a subtle example of a Theatre of the Absurd play, which surreally reflected existentialist philosophy: that people should take responsibility for their own state and actions. Edward Albee wrote and set his play during the Cold War in the early 1960s. The Second World War was still fresh in people’s minds, and the key issue in this extract is the totalitarian vision of the future. This was a fear derived from political issues of the time, specifically, the fear of communism. Honey, who is quite drunk in this part of the play, doesn’t make any important contributions and no-one, apart from Nick, takes any notice of her. Nevertheless, the other characters, in particular George, react to the totalitarian vision of the future in such a manner that uncovers details about their personality, and their relationships with others.

George governs this scene, whereas it seemed as if Martha was the controlling character before. He is the one who raises and is critical of the issue of the totalitarian vision of the future in the first place. He opposes Nick and everything that Nick epitomizes since George represents art in that he is a historian, whilst Nick is a biologist representing science. There is a constant battle between the two during almost the whole play. George is clearly wary of scientists trying to create the perfect master race where “All imbalances will be corrected, sifted out…” and everyone will “tend to be rather the same.” However, there is a certain sinister hint of a Nazi-like purge, which was an anxiety of this period, seeing as Nazism and the Second World War was still a sharp memory in people’s mind. The fear of communism crushing individuality is the point George is trying to make and he is mistrustful about this authoritarian vision of the future because it is one that jeopardizes diversity. He states how “cultures and races will eventually vanish”, a clear worry for him because he feels threatened as someone who appreciates the past. Art and culture is everything that George stands for and its annihilation is the sacrifice to create this alleged perfect race. George calls scientists “ants” that will “take over the world”. This implies that there will be a lack of individuality and uniqueness, and that they are deficient in intelligence and can’t match the power of culture, again conveying his distrust of science and scientists. One can see that George recognises and cherishes the value of culture, especially when he exclaims: “I will not give up Berlin!” This is a reference to the lively nightlife of Berlin in that era, to which he refers again on his comment of a surreally depicted “saloon in West-Berlin”. It is George’s clever artistic interpretation of wanting to defend variety, symbolising freedom of expression, and is part of the philosophy of the Theatre of the Absurd. His use of language illustrates how articulate and intelligent George is, and not only does his domination in this extract show his astuteness, it also gives George the chance to bother Martha.

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George maintains his game-playing and point-scoring with Martha by assuming a teacher-like tone, while Martha is the pupil. He explains that the chromosome business is “very simple, Martha”, patronising her like she’s a child, again continuing the games. George belittles her, implying she’s a monster with a ravenous, almost sexual, appetite that “eats [chromosomes]… for breakfast”. His sudden increase in conversation may be a means to hinder Martha’s incessant flirting with Nick, since he is feeling rather threatened by Nick. Although George is speaking to Martha he is directing it at Nick. He links the idea of the banal unvarying race personally to Nick, referring to the “smooth, blond, and right at the middleweight limit” civilisation of seemingly “glorious men”. Nick fits this description perfectly, personifying the typical, superficially perfect American Dream, and by making his condemnation of the vision specifically related to Nick, George challenges him. George is contemptuous towards Nick, and as the stage directions read, ignores him when Nick tries to protest. He doesn’t trust Nick, and George openly challenges him: “I know when I’m being threatened.” This demonstrates his acknowledgement of both the sexual threat Nick poses, and of the battle between art and science. George is not fooled by Nick’s false courtesy as seen in the early stages of the play.

Nick’s guise of decorum is gradually beginning to uncover. Being a scientist makes him the victim of George's criticism, and a contributor in the construction of a monotonous master race. Consequently, Nick does not have an opposing response to this vision since he plays a role in its development displayed through his joke of being “the wave of the future.” It also reveals elements of Nick’s arrogance when he says it. He tries to, as seen in the stage directions: “make light of it all”, in a sarcastic reply to George's attack, but there is a sense of overconfidence about it. Nick seems unable to take criticism and when he tries to interrupt George, he is “impatient” or says it “grimly”, showing how he wants to cease George’s belittling of him and his profession, and his frustration at George.

Nick obviously dislikes and holds contempt to George. He gets very irritated with George’s comments about scientists being “ants”, demanding: “Are you finished?” Nick is becoming infuriated with George’s taunting, but tries to control himself by “trying to make light of it all”. The underlying tensions in Nick’s relationship with Honey begin to show clearly. He snaps at her when she drunkenly asks: “You never told me,” and his “angry” outburst, as seen by the stage directions, “[shocks]” her. Nick unleashes his impatience and resentment onto Honey, showing that they are not the ‘perfect couple’ that they appear to be. Here, Albee breaks down the image of the American Dream which Honey and Nick are supposed to embody. Nick calls himself “a personal screwing machine” in response to Martha’s flirting with him.

Martha surprisingly doesn’t play a domineering part in this extract. She doesn’t seem very interested in the totalitarian vision of the future, until George mentions Nick. Martha’s responses: “Hunh!… Awww… Goody,” are not ones made with great enthusiasm or with interest, although she is “impressed” at the start of George’s explanation of chromosomes to her. When Martha does comment it does not exhibit anything that we don’t already know about her, such as her sexual forwardness.

Martha is subtly developing her relationship with Nick, flattering him constantly. She remarks how it’s “not a bad idea” if everyone looked like him, and “salaciously” says “So, everyone’s going to look like you, eh?” Martha’s obvious flirting could either be taken seriously, or as just another game to annoy George. Along with her advances towards Nick, she gets at George by putting him down, teasing him about his “paunch”. Martha and George’s childish games are a common part of their interaction, and her mocking him is all part of the game.

This extract is essential in showing how there is a gradual development of characters and their opinions, especially George. How the relationships between characters are portrayed in this extract is significant: they are beginning to develop, and their true nature is progressively being exposed. Yet Albee does not simply convey the characters and their relationships with each other, but perhaps even a portrayal of a wider society. In this extract, Albee criticises the concept of the ‘American Dream’, the idea of perfection through George, and successfully shows how all that glitters is not necessarily gold.

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